Heat dissipating device

ABSTRACT

A heat dissipating device includes a heat sink, two support arms, two securing units, four first fasteners, and four second fasteners. The two support arms are attached to the heat sink. Each of the support arms defines a groove and a first slot. Each of the securing units includes a sliding arm and a fixing arm. The sliding arm defines a receiving recess and a second slot. The fixing arm defines a third slot. The sliding arm is configured for moving the fixing arm toward or away from the heat sink to align the third slot with mounting holes of a motherboard. The first fasteners fix the two fixing arms on the circuit board. The second fasteners are engagingly received in the communicating first and second slots to fixedly attach the two sliding arms to the two support arms.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The disclosure substantially relates to heat dissipating devices and, particularly, to a heat dissipating device having flexibility in mounting on a motherboard.

2. Description of Related Art

Currently, a heat sink may be provided to dissipate heat from a heat radiation element such as a CPU mounted on a motherboard. A typical motherboard substantially has a number of mounting holes defined therein. In assembly, a number of fasteners are provided and secured in respective mounting holes to fix the heat sink on the motherboard. In use, heat from the CPU is transferred to the heat sink and is further dissipated to the atmosphere. In existing technologies, the heat sink is required to fully contact the CPU to dissipate heat efficiently. Otherwise, heat from the CPU may be accumulated and, thus the CPU may overheat.

Positions and numbers of the mounting holes defined in many motherboards with different sizes and shapes are varied. Each type of motherboard is used along with a tailor-made heat sink. Overall, a configuration of such heat sink is shaped to conform to that of the mounting holes of the motherboard, to ensure that the heat sink can be fixedly mounted on the motherboard and fully contacts the CPU. As such, a single heat sink is not suitable to be mounted on motherboards with different sizes and shapes. That is, a typical heat sink is not compatible with typical motherboards with different sizes and shapes, which results in great waste of resources and increase of manufacturing costs.

Therefore, what is needed, is a heat dissipating device, which can overcome the above shortcomings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is an isometric and assembled view of a heat dissipating device according to an embodiment, together with a motherboard.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the motherboard of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front plan view of the heat dissipating device and the motherboard of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a side plan view of the heat dissipating device and the motherboard of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is cross section of the heat dissipating device and the motherboard of FIG. 1, taken along line V-V.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described in detail below and with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a heat dissipating device 100 in accordance with an embodiment is shown. The heat dissipating device 100 is used to dissipate heat from a heat radiation element 25. The heat radiation element 25 in this embodiment is mounted on a circuit board 200. The heat dissipating device 100 includes a heat sink 10, two support arms 30, a securing unit 50, a number of first fasteners 70, and a number of second fasteners 90.

As also shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the circuit board 200 is a motherboard, and includes a mounting surface 200A. In addition, the circuit board 200 has four mounting holes 20 defined in the mounting surface 200A. The heat radiation element 25 is a CPU, and is mounted on a central portion of the mounting surface 200A. The four mounting holes 20 are located at opposite ends of the heat radiation element 25.

The heat sink 10 is arranged on the heat radiation element 25. The heat sink 10 includes a base 10A and a number of fins 10B protruding from the base 10A. The base 10A is attached to the heat radiation element 25. The fins 10B are substantially parallel with one another.

The two support arms 30 are arranged on opposite ends of the heat radiation element 25, and are fixedly attached to the heat radiation element 25. In this embodiment, the two support arms 30 can be attached to the heat radiation element 25 via an adhesive. In alternative embodiments, the two support arms 30 can be fixed to the heat radiation element 25 by using fasteners, such as screws. In other alternative embodiments, the two support arms 30 and the heat radiation element 25 can be integrally connected to each other and can be manufactured together. In yet other alternative embodiments, the heat dissipating device 100 may include at least one or more support arms 30, such as three support arms 30, four support arms 30 or as many as needed.

In this embodiment, each of the two support arms 30 is strip-shaped, and has a rectangular transverse section. Each support arm 30 includes a first top surface 30A, two end surfaces 30B (see FIG. 1), and a first lateral surface 30C. The first top surface 30A is located at a side of the support arm 30 facing away from the circuit board 200. The two end surfaces 30B are located at opposite ends of the support arm 30. The first lateral surface 30C is located between and adjoins the two end surfaces 30B. In addition, the support arm 30 has a groove 31 defined in the top surface 30A, and has a first inner sidewall 310 in a side of the groove 31 facing away from the heat sink 10. Furthermore, the support arm 30 has a first slot 32 defined in the first inner sidewall 310. The groove 31 extends along a lengthwise direction of the support arm 30, and extends all the way through the two end surfaces 30B. The first slot 32 extends all the way through the first lateral surfaces 30C. The two grooves 31 of the two support arms 30 are substantially parallel to each other. Each of the grooves 31 and the first slots 32 is substantially cuboid-shaped. In alternative embodiments, each of the grooves 31 can be substantially U-shaped. Each of the first slots 32 can be substantially elliptical.

Each of the two securing units 50 includes a sliding arm 51 and a fixing arm 52 connected to the sliding arm 51. The sliding arm 51 is substantially a strip, and has a rectangular transverse section. The two sliding arms 51 are received in the respective grooves 31 of the two support arms 30. Each sliding arm 51 thus can slide along the corresponding groove 31. In this embodiment, each sliding arm 51 includes a second top surface 51A and a second lateral surface 51C. The second top surface 51A is located at a side of the sliding arm 51 facing away from the circuit board 200. The second lateral surface 51C adjoins the second top surface 51A, and is located at a side of the sliding arm 51 facing away from the heat sink 10. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the sliding arm 51 has a receiving recess 511 defined in the second top surface 51A, and has a second inner sidewall 5110 in the receiving recess 511 at a side thereof facing away from the heat sink 10. Furthermore, the sliding arm 51 has a second slot 512 defined in the second inner sidewall 5110. The receiving recess 511 extends along a lengthwise direction of the sliding arm 51 but does not extend through opposite end surfaces of the sliding arm 51. The second slot 512 extends all the way through the second lateral surfaces 51C.

The fixing arm 52 is substantially a strip. An end of the fixing arm 52 is connected to an end of the sliding arm 51. In this embodiment, the fixing arm 52 is substantially perpendicular to the sliding arm 51, and the sliding arm 51 and the fixing arm 52 cooperate to form L-shaped configuration. In addition, the sliding arm 51 and the fixing arm 52 both are substantially parallel to the mounting surface 200A of the circuit board 200. When the sliding arm 51 slides along the groove 31 of the support arm 30, the sliding arm 51 moves the fixing arm 52 toward or away from the heat sink 10. In alternative embodiments, the fixing arm 52 may be slanted relative to the sliding arm 51 but not necessarily perpendicular to the sliding arm 51.

In this embodiment, the two sliding arms 51 of the two securing units 50 are received in the respective grooves 31. The two fixing arms 52 of the two securing units 50 are located at opposite ends of the heat sink 10 to face the mounting holes 20 of the circuit board 200. The number of the securing units 50 and the support arms 30 is not limited to the above illustrated embodiment. The heat dissipating device 100 including at least one or more securing units 50, for example three securing units 50, and at least one or more support arms 30, for example three support arms 30 should also be considered to be within the scope of the disclosure.

Each fixing arm 52 includes a third top surface 52A facing away from the circuit board 200, and a bottom surface 52B adjacent to (or adjoining) the mounting surface 200A. The fixing arm 52 has a third slot 521 defined in the third top surface 52A. The third slot 521 extends along a lengthwise direction of the fixing arm 52 but does not extend through opposite end surfaces of the fixing arm 52. In this embodiment, the third slot 521 is exposed at the bottom surface 52B of the fixing arm 52.

Referring further to FIG. 4, the first fasteners 70 are configured for fixing the two fixing arms 52 on the circuit board 200. The second fasteners 90 are configured for fixedly attaching the sliding arms 51 to the respective support arms 30. In this embodiment, the heat dissipating device 100 includes four first fasteners 70 and four second fasteners 90. Each first fastener 70 includes a first screw bolt 71 and a first screw nut 72 (see FIG. 3). Each second fastener 90 includes a second screw bolt 91 and a second screw nut 92 (see FIG. 4).

In assembly, position of the heat sink 10 can first be adjusted until the base 10A of the heat sink 10 fully contacts the heat radiation element 25. In this embodiment, an adhesive can first be coated on the heat radiation element 25, and the base 10A can be subsequently arranged on the heat sink 10. In this manner, the heat sink 10 is attached to the heat radiation element 25 via the adhesive.

Furthermore, the sliding arms 51 are moved to slide along the respective grooves 31 of the support arms 30. Accordingly, the respective sliding arms 51 move the fixing arms 52 toward or away from the heat sink 10. In this embodiment, when the two third slots 521 align with four respective mounting holes 20 of the circuit board 200, the two second slots 512 communicate with respective first slots 32 (see FIG. 4). With this configuration, the four first screw bolts 71 can be inserted into respective third slots 521 and respective mounting holes 20 in sequence, to be engaged with respective first screw nuts 72. In this manner, the first screw bolts 71 and the first screw nuts 72 cooperatively fix the fixing arms 52 on the circuit board 200. In this embodiment, the first screw nuts 72 are arranged at a side of the circuit board 200 facing away from the securing unit 50 to be threadedly engaged with respective first screw bolts 71.

As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the heat dissipating device 100 may include a support board 94 for supporting the circuit board 200. The support board 94 may for example, be in a form of a frame 942 with a receiving hole 940 (see FIG. 5). That is, the frame 942 is arranged around the receiving hole 940. The frame 942 can be substantially round or substantially rectangular. The receiving hole 940 also can be round or rectangular. In assembly, the frame 942 is arranged at a side of the circuit board 200 facing away from the securing unit 50. The four first screw bolts 71 are inserted into respective third slots 521 and respective mounting holes 20 in sequence, and further are exposed at an exterior of the receiving hole 940. The first screw nuts 72 are threadedly engaged with respective first screw bolt 71, thus abutting the support board 94 against the circuit board 200. In this embodiment, the first screw bolts 71 are arranged along a direction substantially perpendicular to the mounting surface 200A of the circuit board 200. The support board 94 supports the circuit board 200, such that force applied on the circuit board 200 by the first fasteners 70 is uniform, avoiding deformation of the circuit board 200 caused by unequal force applied thereon.

As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the four second screw bolts 91 can be inserted into the communicating first and second slots 32 and 512 in a direction substantially parallel to the mounting surface 200A, to be engaged with respective second screw nuts 92. With this configuration, the four second fasteners 90 fixedly attach the two sliding arms 51 to the respective support arms 30. In this embodiment, the receiving recesses 511 are used to receive respective second screw nuts 92 when the second screw bolts 91 and the screw nuts 92 are threadedly engaged with each other. Each receiving recess 511 receives two second screw nuts 92.

As the position of the heat sink 10 can first be adjusted until the heat sink 10 fully contacts the heat radiation element 25. Then the fixing arms 52 can be moved toward or away from the heat sink 10, and the first fasteners 70 can be moved along the third slots 521 and used to fix the fixing arms 52 on the circuit board 200. Subsequently, the second fasteners 90 can be moved along the communicating first and second slots 32 and 512 and used to fixedly attach the sliding arms 51 to the support arms 30, thus securing the heat sink 10 on the circuit board 200. Therefore, the heat dissipating device 100 can be used in motherboards with different sizes and shapes and having different mounting holes 20. When the heat dissipating device 100 is fixedly secured on the motherboard, the heat dissipating device 100 can be used to efficiently dissipate heat from the CPU of the motherboard.

As shown in FIG. 5, the heat dissipating device 100 may further include a fan 96. In this embodiment, the fan 96 can be fixed to the heat sink 10 using four third fasteners 98. Each of the third fasteners 98 can be a screw. The fan 96 can be used to provide air flows to the heat sink 10, thus dissipating heat from the heat sink 10 into the air.

It is understood that the above-described embodiment is intended to illustrate rather than limit the disclosure. Variations may be made to the embodiment without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the disclosure. 

1. A heat dissipating device for dissipating heat from a heat radiation element mounted on a circuit board, the circuit board having a mounting surface and at least one mounting hole defined in the mounting surface, the heat dissipating device comprising: a heat sink for being arranged on the heat radiation element; at least one support arm attached to the heat sink, each of the at least one support arm defining a groove and a first slot communicating with the groove; at least one securing unit, each of the at least one securing unit comprising a sliding arm and a fixing arm connected to the sliding arm, the sliding arm defining a receiving recess and a second slot communicating with the receiving recess, the fixing arm defining a third slot, the sliding arm being slidably engaged in the groove of a corresponding one of the at least one support arm, and the sliding arm being configured for moving the fixing arm toward or away from the heat sink to align the third slot of the fixing arm with a corresponding one of the at least one mounting hole, with the first slot of the corresponding support arm communicating with the second slot of the sliding arm; at least one first fastener, each first fastener configured for being received in the third slot of a corresponding fixing arm and a corresponding mounting hole to fix the corresponding fixing arm on the circuit board; and at least one second fastener, each second fastener configured for being received in the first slot of a corresponding supporting arm and the second slot of a corresponding sliding arm to attach the corresponding sliding arm to the corresponding support arm.
 2. The heat dissipating device of claim 1, wherein the sliding arm and the fixing arm of each securing unit are substantially perpendicular to each other.
 3. The heat dissipating device of claim 2, wherein the at least one support arm comprises two support arms arranged at opposite ends of the heat sink, the at least one securing unit comprises two securing units arranged around the heat sink.
 4. The heat dissipating device of claim 3, wherein the two grooves of the two support arms are substantially parallel to each other.
 5. The heat dissipating device of claim 1, wherein the heat sink comprises a base and a plurality of fins protruding from the base, the base is configured for being arranged on the heat radiation element.
 6. The heat dissipating device of claim 1, further comprising a support board for being arranged at a side of the circuit board facing away from the heat sink, wherein the support board comprises a frame and defining a receiving hole in the frame, each of the at least one first fastener comprises a first screw bolt and a first screw nut, the first screw bolt is configured for passing through a corresponding third slot and a corresponding mounting hole, the first screw nut is configured for engaging with the first screw bolt and pushing the frame of the support board to contact the circuit board.
 7. The heat dissipating device of claim 6, wherein the first screw bolt is arranged along a direction substantially perpendicular to the mounting surface of the circuit board.
 8. The heat dissipating device of claim 1, wherein each of the at least one second fastener comprises a second screw bolt and a second screw nut, the second screw bolt is configured for passing through the first slot of a corresponding supporting arm and the second slot of a corresponding sliding arm, the second screw nut is configured for being received in the receiving recess of the corresponding sliding arm and engaging with the screw bolt.
 9. The heat dissipating device of claim 8, wherein the second screw bolt is arranged along a direction substantially parallel to the mounting surface of the circuit board.
 10. The heat dissipating device of claim 1, further comprising a fan, the fan being arranged adjacent to the heat sink and configured for providing air flows to the heat sink. 